


A[nother] Case of the Flu

by DeafGirlWalking



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Sick Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2018-11-07 23:55:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 20,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11069733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeafGirlWalking/pseuds/DeafGirlWalking
Summary: It takes a special kind of apathy to just not bother recovering from the flu. And it takes a special kind of blanket aggression to keep everyone away.April Ludgate is a special kind of person, though, who possesses just the right traits.That is, until she's lying flat on the floor.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am new, please be friendly :)

April Ludgate always assumed that the sensation of dying would be remotely pleasant. With living being a ceaseless laundry-list of increasingly obnoxious chores and the way she was building a tolerance to even the strongest cups of coffee, it seemed like gently passing into the void would be nice. If nothing else, it would usher in the greatest apathy her dark soul had ever known.

Lying on her bed clutching her side, she determined that this was a mistake. Calming down after the most recent bought of coughing, she groaned and rolled up into something resembling a sitting position. Her head throbbed.

_Now would be a good time for soup. Or death. Or coffee._

She swung herself into something resembling a standing position and leaned into the door frame of her bedroom. 

_Of all times for your stupid college-visit road trip, huh, Nat?_

It wasn't that April was mad that she had the house to herself. She loved that peace and quiet. It's just that she was sure her mother would throw a fit if she found her daughter dead on the floor when said daughter had promised to get over her flu. Said daughter had even been bribed with a massive bear to discourage her from dying. Said daughter was an ungrateful jerk. Natalie would say so at the funeral.

_Dead people don't have to deal with parents, though. Score three for death._

She had had the flu, along with approximately half of the town. Leslie had had it. Andy had the sniffles for a bit, and they weren't sure he had it. Ron had managed not to get it through the magic of a diet composed entirely of strange carbs and steak. 

But Leslie got better and Andy stopped sneezing and Ron stopped holding his breath when he was near them.

And April? April was dying.

_Should of seen Ann. Could of coughed on her, been all 'why is my flu still the flu'. Ha, what if Ann got the super flu and I had the super flu and then Andy could be SuperNotFlu and I'd be SuperFlu and that would be..._

April stumbled into the wall of the kitchen. It hurt a bit to breathe. It hurt more than a bit.

Why had Leslie gotten better and she didn't? This wasn't fair. Granted Leslie didn't sustain herself purely off of cups of coffee and an undying hatred of the universe. Leslie probably ate vegetables. April had been sick and tired and sick of being tired and tired of being sick and had mostly just...not. She holed herself up for the long weekend without her family and was prepared to just not bothering with existing. 

She glanced sleepily at the package of unopened fever medication on the table, the groceries that her mom left that still weren't put away, let alone eaten.

_Whoops._

April had approximately the same number of braincells online as did the entire Board of Directors running the school district, but luckily those braincells were smart enough to stop her from getting into her car. Instead she found the garage and Nat's bicycle and managed to perch herself on top of said bicycle. Her backpack hung strangely off her shoulders and she noticed that she was wearing it backwards.

_Oh well._

It didn't seem to take long to get to work, but honestly she couldn't remember three quarters of the trip. Her legs were shaking by the time she arrived, and she felt incredibly out of breath. It took a couple minutes of wheezing before she could even think to get off the bike.

She had forgotten a lock, but that was alright. No one was going to steal Natalie's weird bicycle. April swung her leg over the bike frame and prepared to climb off. She immediately fell.

"You okay?" asked some random governmental employee who's name April didn't know.

"I don't believe in gravity." She hoped her face was still her normal face. She wasn't sure she had a face. It was highly likely that she was only a skeleton. That would be pretty cool, but her skeleton hurt and she wanted it to stop please.

The employee had left by this point, and April picked herself back up.

_I didn't even remember to get coffee. Could've gone through the drive through. Haha bikes._

Her hand felt strangely empty without the normal cup of warm beverage, and she found a random rock and held it in her hand. Locking eyes with another random employee, she pretended to take a sip from it. They raised their eyebrows in response. 

_Perfect._

They must have redecorated the building, because the floors and the walls were all wavy. Granted, that had happened in April's bathroom last night, after she was done puking. Maybe it was a Pawnee thing. Something in the air. 

Her skeleton hurt some more and she slowly trudged to the Parks and Rec office. She didn't even bother going by Andy's shoeshine station. She just really needed to sit down.

"Hey April," Leslie said in her abnormally upbeat tone. "How was your weekend?"

_What's a weekend and where also is my face, is my face still a face?_

Ignoring the face issue, April did her best to sound bored. "I practiced not existing. I've gotten pretty good at it."

"That's...great! Are you feeling alright? You look a little pale."

"Speaking with the void will do that to you." The room was spinning in an incredibly nauseating fashion. April gave Leslie one of her deadest of stares and went back to focusing blankly on a pad of sticky notes. She still had her coffee-rock clutched in her hand. His name was Rock Stoneson. Any resemblance to any Ron Swanson was purely coincidental. 

"Okay then...I'll talk to you later. Glad you're over your flu!"

_Ha._


	2. Chapter 2

Leslie found herself in Ron's office for what was actually the fourth time that morning. It was just one of those days where you just have to talk to your fellow workers, you know? Visit four, however, was under less pleasant of circumstances than visits one, two and three.

"Hello again," Ron mumbled dryly, clearly now done with having his office invaded.

"Have you spoke to April?"

"Didn't she just get here?"

"Yes but I've already spoken to her, she seems a little..." Leslie paused. "Off."

"It's April. Girl's off-er than a busted light switch."

"Ron." Leslie's voice took on a more serious tone. "I'm concerned."

Ron took pause for a moment. "I don't like to interfere in the business of my coworkers. But I'll keep an eye on her." He glanced out through the window of his office to where April was sitting at her desk. She looked fine. A little tired, maybe.

"Thank you," Leslie breathed a sigh of relief and exited the office. She had the courtesy, at least, to close the door.

\---

Determined not to be a meddler, Ron left April to her own devices for the rest of the morning, sparing her the occasional glance whenever she got up to go to the bathroom. She did so frequently, he noticed. 

It was only at eleven that he really had to pay April any mind. She came into his office, clutching a rock and smiling in a very un-April manner. She looked slightly sweaty and very, very pale.

"This is Rock Stoneson. He's not you but do you think he should have a mustache or do you think maybe he could have a beard sort of beard..." she trailed off and leaned against his doorframe, taking shallow breaths. A rumbling, wet cough came out of some deep place inside her lungs, and with her free hand she gripped the edge of his door.

Ron raised his eyebrows at her, but she continued talking as though oblivious to his expression. "I was thinking maybe a mustache I can't imagine you with a beard and no mustache. Or him with a beard. He's not you. I can't find Andy to ask him. Maybe he should wear a hat. Maybe Andy should wear a hat. I don't know..."

Ron sighed and stood up, coming to stand in front of April. She smiled vaguely at him, and then blinked sleepily. 

"April, are you...feeling okay?"

She blinked again. "Yeah. I'm..." she swayed and then gripped the doorframe again. "I'm good to go. Want coffee. I biked here this morning, so I didn't get coffee. Where's Andy?"

"I don't know where Andy is. Probably at his shoeshine station. Why did you bike here?"

She shrugged. "Didn't feel like driving. I'm going to go find Andy."

"I could go find him for you."

Ron Swanson never offered to do things for other people unless he was feeling incredibly charitable. This penetrated through the cotton-fog of April's brain and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Why?"

"Because...Leslie needs you for something, and you should stay around for when she comes back."

"Do you think she'd help me make a hat?" April held up Rock Stoneson hopefully.

"Yes. I'm sure she would be delighted. She might even make him a sweater." He put out his hands, and without touching April began to steer her back in the direction of his desk. The entire office was empty, where was everyone? "Have you seen anyone around today?"

"I don't know. Maybe they're at lunch."

Eleven would be a bit early for lunch, but you never know with these people. "Lunch sounds great around now. What do you want for lunch? Did you bring some?"

"Didn't bring. Not hungry." April fiddled with a bunch of strange, scribbled post-it notes.

Ron was never one to turn down lunch, but April was one to sometimes skip lunch if she had had enough coffee earlier in the day. "Big breakfast?"

April paused, looked at Rock Stoneson, and then blinked. "Didn't have breakfast."

Ron stopped dead in his tracks. "No breakfast?" Breakfast was the best meal, as far as Ron was concerned. Delicious bacon and eggs, steak...Leslie could get in on it with her waffles as well.

April shook her head and then coughed that cough again. It left her gasping, and Ron fought the urge to back up until he was in the next county. 

"I'm going to find Andy."  _And Leslie,_ he added mentally.

\---

Leslie was clearly in some meeting, and he wasn't sure where he'd find her, so Ron set out to find Andy. He was at his shoeshine station as always, and sat up on his heels like an excited puppy when he saw Ron.

"Andy!"

Ron didn't smile back, but he soften his eyes in what was a particularly warm stare. He liked Andy. But he shook it off, he was here on serious business.

"Andy, have you talked to April today?"

Andy shook his head, confused. "No, I didn't see her today. Why, is she looking for me?" He perked up hopefully.

"Sort of. She's found a cool rock that she needs your advice on."

"Oh!" Andy lurched into a standing position. "Does it need a sword?"

"No. Rocks don't...never mind. Before we go back to help April with her rock, do you know where Leslie is?"

"Yeah! She's in the parking lot taking deep breaths. She had one of those meetings, you know, the ones where you go all -" Andy made a very unusual face, bugging out his eyes and clenching his jaw.

_Great. My assistant is delusional and talking to a rock and my boss is having an aneurism in the parking lot._

"Awesome. Let's go find her and cheer her up."

"Okay!"

\---

"My name's Rock Stoneson and I'm a big rock who doesn't have feelings. I eat a lot of meat. I like eating meat and killing things so that they can be turned into meat. I also like alcohol but only Man-Alcohol. I like wearing the same clothes every day and having a mustache!"

\---

Sure enough, they found Leslie in a parking lot, clearly coming down after one of her frustration-induced heavy-breathing sessions. She was on the other side though, and smiled brightly when she saw them.

"Hey Ron! Andy! What's going on?"

"We're helping April with her rock!"

Leslie gave Ron a confused glance. "With her rock?"

"April's got a rock that she's named Rock Stoneson. Apparently it has nothing to do with me but needs a mustache." Ron squashed down a smile. "Leslie, I think April could use your help."

"O..kay..." Leslie said, clearly confused. As they turned to head back to the Parks and Rec office, she leaned in to Ron and whispered "Ron! What is going on?"

"You'll see," he whispered back.

They rounded the corner into the office and were immediately met with a sight of mild destruction. April was sitting on the floor, surrounded by several small piles of sticky notes. Rock Stoneson was in one hand, and she was holding a stapler in the other. She stopped and smiled vaguely at them as they came in. "Hey Andy!"

"Hey! Is that your rock? It's the coolest. Do you think he needs a sword?"

Leslie looked carefully at April. "April, are you okay?"

April blinked and nodded before turning to Andy, who had crouched down next to her.

Ron leaned in close to Leslie. "She's coughing...a lot. And nothing she says makes any kind of sense. And she can't seem to stay upright on her feet."

Leslie pressed her mouth into a tight line. "That's what I was worried about."

"She hasn't eaten in a while either, I think. At the very least she hasn't eaten today. And she biked here."

Leslie paled. "April, how's your family doing?"

"They're with Natalie. Road-trip to see all the colleges, even though we all know she'll stay here. That's all anyone ever does around here. Why leave when you could have all the joys of Pawnee?" April's normal dry tone was in place, but even that sounded a bit wavering and unsure.

"How long have they been gone?"

"Since Thursday." April held up her rock. "Beard or mustache?"

"Mustache," replied Leslie quickly, ignoring the glare from Ron. "And you've been alone since Thursday?"

April nodded and then grabbed her side, leaning over as a wet coughing spasm overtook her. She coughed for what seemed like several minutes before finally growing quiet and then rising into a standing position. "Sorry, I gotta go puke my guts."

"April, wait-"

April took several steps in the direction of the bathroom before stopping suddenly. Her eyes rolled up into her head, and neither Ron nor Leslie were quite able to grab her before she dropped to the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

"April?"

Andy Dwyer glanced up from the sword he was making for Rock Stoneson and found himself looking at one of the coolest people in the world. Said coolest person in the world was currently lying on the floor as though she was taking a nap. Her hair was all over her face and she was kind of lying on her side like a cat. It looked pretty comfortable.

"April, oh my god!" Leslie turned and grabbed Ron's arm at the elbow. "Ron, she just passed out!"

_What, what?_

"April?" She didn't move. "April!" Andy grabbed her shoulder and shook it a little, but she didn't even punch him in the face for touching her without permission. Andy looked up at Leslie and Ron. "What's happening?"

"Andy, I think April is sick," Leslie began slapping the sides of her jacket with open hands, as though looking for something.

"But she was just sick! She can't be sick again already, that's just not fair." Andy shook April again. Fear was beginning to creep into his stomach. 

"I'm not sure she ever got better, Andy." Leslie began digging through her pockets. "I'm going to see if I can get hold of Ann, but I think we need to take her back to the hospital."

He decided that the risk of being punched in the face was worth it, and began to gather April up into his arms. "Hey April. It's okay if you punch me in the face. That would be pretty great, actually, because you would need to be awake to punch me in the face. Please wake up and punch me. " He lifted her into the air and moved onto his knees. April still had Ron Stoneson in her hand, and she made a small noise as Andy finally moved into a standing position.

Ron stared straight at them, a frozen expression on his face. Leslie had found her phone and was pacing back and forth. "Ann's not picking up. She's probably on shift."

"We need to go in. This isn't okay, she's still not awake. I'll drive," Ron offered, finally moving. "I'll get my car. Meet me out front."

"Okay, great!" Leslie pressed the back of her hand against April's forehead. "Oh, you would never let me do this if you were okay. Jesus, Andy, she's got a hell of a fever. Why didn't she tell us?"

April made a noise again and opened her eyes. She looked up at Andy sleepily. "Hey Andy."

"Hey, April. You're okay."

"April? Oh my god, April! You passed out. Ron's getting the car. We're taking you to the hospital. Oh my god, April, you scared the hell out of us-"

April coughed wetly for several seconds. Andy watched the way her face grew redder and redder as she coughed. The coughing finally stopped, and she breathed quickly through her nose and closed her eyes.

"April?" Leslie tried. She looked up at Andy. "Andy, we have to go. Can you carry her?"

"Yeah, of course," he replied almost indignantly. "April's like, super small. And I am super strong."  _It was hard to believe that someone so cool could be so small._ He looked down at her and felt himself start to shake, just a little bit. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Let's walk towards the front. I don't know, Andy. No, yes. Yes, she's going to be fine. She's going to be perfectly fine." Leslie glanced back over her shoulder. "April, so help me, you better be fine!"

"I'm fine," April slurred, eyes still closed. She opened them to give a modified version of her dead stare to Andy. "Put me down."

"No, April, no you're not. You have a killer fever."

April began to struggle slightly, pushing weakly against Andy's shoulder. "Put me down, Andy."

"Andy, do not put her down," Leslie responded sharply, opening the door to let them outside the building.

"Sorry April, but I gotta do what Leslie says. Besides, you'll just fall down again. And what if you drop your rock?"

April didn't say anything in response, but grabbed onto his shirt with her free hand and began to close her eyes.

"April, please stay awake," Andy replied seriously. "You're scaring me."

Ron had the car, and Leslie opened the backseat. "Put her in lying down, and keep her head in your lap."

Andy put April down in the car, and then ran around to the other side and climbed in, putting April's head in his lap. "Okay, April. Time to go to the hospital." Her eyes were closed. "April, can you open your eyes? April?" He shook her shoulder, but her eyes stayed closed. "Leslie, I'm scared."

"It's going to be okay, Andy. I'm going to call Ann...never mind, Ann's calling me. Hey Ann. No, listen, it's April. I think she's still sick from the flu. She passed out." Leslie turned around in her seat to look back at them. "Andy put on your seat beat. Yeah, we're bringing her in. She's got a really high fever, Ann I'm really worried. She's been alone since Thursday. No, I don't know if she's taken her medication. I don't know. I just know she has a fever, and she's coughing, and she collapsed. She's asleep. Andy, can you try to wake April up?"

Andy shook April gently. April opened her eyes and blinked at Leslie.

"April! Great, I'm on the phone with Ann. Ann has a couple of questions for you, do you think you could answer them?"

April grabbed Andy's shirt tighter and buried her face into his shirt. "No."

"She doesn't want to answer any questions. What a surprise, right?" Leslie went back to talking to Ann on the phone. Ron was driving in silence.

Andy petted April's head gently. "You okay," he whispered. He felt April shake her head against his leg. "Yeah. You're not okay right now. Have you had any medication?" She shook her head again. "Leslie? She's not had any medication."

He heard Leslie sigh in response and relay the information to Ann. "Thanks Andy."

"Andy?" April whispered. "What's going on?"

"We're taking you to the hospital. You're sick. Like apparently you're very sick. You're kind of scaring me." He continued petting her head. "But I carried you. Because I'm super big."

"Your stomach is growling," April whispered.

"Oh man, I forgot my lunch! I was going to eat lunch with you. Did you have lunch?"

"No."

"Andy, ask her if she's eaten." Leslie cut in, and then continued talking to Ann. "Andy's having a better time getting April to cooperate."

Andy smiled. He was good at getting April to do things! No one was good at getting April to do things! "Have you eaten?"

April shook her head. "Not for a while. I had coffee."

"Leslie? She hasn't eaten, but at least she's had coffee."

Ron was driving faster than all the other cars on the road. Their car was winning the race to the hospital, and they arrived in the parking lot quickly. 

"Okay Andy, Ann's going to meet us in the ER. Can you keep carrying April?"

"Yeah." Andy moved April's head carefully off his lap. "Alright, April, one second." He climbed out of the car and ran around to the other side. "Can you sit up?"

April sat up shakily. Her whole body was shaking like she was cold and she reached her arms out to him like she wanted a hug. But she was April, so she probably didn't want a hug. He put his arms out to her anyway and picked her up.

"Don't worry, kid. They're going to take good care of you," Ron said seriously, locking the car. "Alright. Everyone to the ER."


	4. Chapter 4

Ann was more than a little surprised when she noticed that Leslie had called her not once, but three times during the first part of Ann's shift. Normally Leslie was so attentive and would never call one of her friends while they were at work. 

_Maybe it's an emergency?_

Leslie, luckily, was fine. However it was clear within moments that some kind of medical issue was happening. April Ludgate, apparently, was still sick with the flu and had collapsed. Getting usable information out of her was a struggle, but it seems like she hadn't been feeling well for some time.

Ann sighed and hung up the phone when the Parks and Rec party made it into the parking lot. Last week when April first had the flu, she had been aggressive and hostile. Ann really wasn't looking forward to dealing with her again.

_But she collapsed, that's not normal at all. She must be actually sick._

It didn't take long for Leslie to come bursting through the doors. "Ann, oh my God! You have to help April."

"Okay, slow down Leslie, I will. Where is she?"

"Andy's got her but he has to carry her, she can't walk and she started throwing up something or coughing up something? I don't know. I'm sorry, I know the janitors will have to clean it, she doesn't mean to-"

"They'll take care of it. Is someone with Andy?"

"Ron." Leslie panted. "I'm serious, Ann, something's really wrong with her."

Andy came crashing through the doors next, his puppy-dog face oddly serious. He looked pleadingly at Ann, and down at April. Ann crossed the floor to come over to them, noticing that Ron had now joined them

April appeared unconscious, her face pale, and was visibly sweaty. Her hand was tangled up in Andy's shirt. Ann carefully pressed the back of her hand against April's forehead, recoiling almost immediately. "Okay. We need to get her in a room." She turned to the nurse at the front desk. "I'm putting April Ludgate in a bed. She has a file here. She appears to have the flu, at the very least she had a very high fever." She turned back to Andy. "Andy, help me get her to a bed."

\---

He had something to do. Good. Everything was okay as long as people kept telling him what to do.

Andy nodded tightly and followed her, Leslie and Ron close on their heels. Ann opened the door into the nearest available room and ushered them in. To Andy, the room seemed identical to the one he had visited April in the week before. She was fine then. She was fine.

He shook his head. Ann was talking, he needed to focus.  "Put her on the bed, Andy. I need to take vitals."

"April? April, I'm putting you in the bed now, okay?" Andy whispered gently. She didn't respond, but he carefully put her down on the bed and tried to do the thing that Ann did where she checked April's fever. April felt sweaty. She still had a death grip on his shirt, and he carefully pried her hand off his shirt. He knew he should let go of her hand, but he couldn't seem to.

Leslie looked pale, and kept asking Ann if there was anything to do. Ron looked like a statue. Andy wished he was a statue. Statues were cool. 

Ann wasn't a statue. She kept running in and out, gathering supplies. She came to stand by April's bed. "Hey, April. Hey. I'm going to be taking some vitals." Ann did a bunch of medical stuff, taking April's pulse and putting a weird thing on one of April's fingers for a little bit before taking it back off. She took April's blood pressure and did some other stuff.

"Okay, Leslie: April's pulse is a little fast, and her blood oxygen is a little lower, which is concerning. Her fever is 104.5, so she has a serious fever. I want to take her blood sugar, just to see if she's been eating, and then we're probably going to have to take some blood. After that I want the doctor to come in to see her." Ann looked to Leslie, who nodded in response. "I'm going to take her blood sugar now and then get the phlebotomist. Leslie and Ron, can I have you go back to the front desk to pick up some forms and fill them out for April?"

Leslie nodded again and grabbed Ron by the arm and pulled him back out of the room, glancing constantly over her shoulder until they were out of sight.

"Andy?" April whispered.

"Hey." He squeezed her hand. Her hand felt really warm. Normally she was talking about how cold her hands were, but now she was the warm sweaty one.  "It's okay. Ann's going to check to see if your blood is sweet."

"I'm taking your blood sugar. Hey, April."

"Ann?" April's voice was surprisingly pleasant. "Hi, Ann."

Ann's voice was audibly surprised. "Hello, April. Can you give me your hand?" She took April's hand. "Awesome, thank you. Why are you holding this rock?"

"That's Rock Stoneson," Andy offered helpfully. "He's April's friend."

"Okay. Well, I'm just going to do a little finger stick on one of your fingers."

Andy looked away and squeezed April's hand. "It's okay April. You're okay."

"Great job, April! All done," Ann took the device away, looking at it thoughtfully. It beeped. "Okay, wow. Yeah, that's a little low. But it's okay, thank you April for being so cooperative." She turned back to Andy. "Andy, I need to go find the doctor and the phlebotomist. Stay with April. Use the beeper if you need anything, just don't leave her"

"I won't leave." He squeezed April's hand and sat down in the chair next to her bed. "You hear that? I'm not leaving. Not even to go pee."

April smiled at him. She looked awesome, but also kind of terrible. "Ann stabbed my finger. But it's okay because it was only a little bit." 

"Plus now she can use your blood to clone you. That's pretty cool."

April nodded sleepily. "Yeah. Andy, I'm tired."

"You can probably take a nap. The doctor will come in but I can talk to him for you. You don't have to do anything.  You can do nothing. You love doing nothing."

April squeezed his hand weakly. "Okay." She started coughing, and Andy pushed her up into a sitting position and patted her gently on the back. Normally you want to give someone a strong pat. But he was scared of patting April too hard. April leaned into him, resting her head against his shoulder and getting sweat all over him. It was okay, he was already kind of sweaty.

"Andy."

"Yeah?"

"Look." April pointed at a small spot of blood on the blanket, and then looked up at him. "Andy? I want Ann to come back now."

_Blood. There's blood on the bed and it's not from April's finger._

"Okay! Okay I can make that happen! ANN!" Andy grabbed the beeper and started slamming the button. "ANN!"

Ann ran back in, Leslie on her heels. "Andy, what's going on?" She looked at the blood on April's blanket. "April, are you bleeding?"

"Coughed." April looked up at Ann pleadingly. "Ann, please help."

"Okay. I'm going to call the doctor right now. I think we're going to need to get some X-Rays. April, if at all possible please stay calm and awake, okay? I'm going to get the doctor. Leslie, can you stay here?"

Leslie nodded and came over to April's side. "April, oh my god oh my god. Ann, come back soon. April! April, why is this happening to you?"

April leaned more and more into Andy's shoulder, and he squeezed her hand. He could smell her hair. She didn't smell like shampoo too much. He liked the way April smelled. She smelled great, even when she smelled like flu-sweat.

Leslie kept talking. She was always talking. "April, I should call your family and let them know- April?" April had closed her eyes. Her face was really pale. "Andy, wake her up!"

Andy shook her and her eyes opened back up."You have to stay awake. It isn't time to sleep."

"Oh, April," Leslie grabbed April into a hug and sounded an awful lot like she was crying. "Never get the flu again, okay?"


	5. Chapter 5

It gets blurry quickly. One moment April's on the floor with sticky-notes and Rock Stoneson and Andy, goofy Andy and the next minute she's being carried. Her head goes round-and-round.

She nearly throws up on Andy in the hospital hallway. Leslie runs ahead. Andy laughs and says she can't be the biggest mess of the day.

Rock Stoneson's a good buddy as she lies in the hospital bed, freezing and burning in increments. There's something strange about blood and fever and sugar and she squeezes Andy's hand and he doesn't let go, not when Leslie decides that she needs to take off her shirt and change into a hospital gown and makes him look away, not when another nurse comes in and jams something up her arm, not when Leslie starts crying in the corner, not ever.

\---

Andy's not sure he's ever seen anyone look as pale as April does right now.

"You can squeeze my hand. It's immune to being crushed, I held a boa constrictor," he tells her. "It tried to crush me and it couldn't. Maybe I'm made of titanium." April grips his hand and turns her face away at the plumbotamist or whatever sticks something up into her elbow. 

"Sorry, dear. I'll try again. You're very dehydrated."

"It's okay April, Ann's going to come back with a doctor and they're going to get you sorted out, don't worry," Leslie says. Her voice sounds high and squeaky, like a dog toy. Dog toys are cool, if he had one he would give it to April and she could squeeze and it would squeak and-

April makes a high noise as the pluboatmist stabs her in the arm again, and he squeezes her hand and starts talking louder. "One time I held a really large snake, do you like snakes, April? Well this was a really cool snake except it got wrapped all around my neck and around my arms and I could have died. Except not really, it turns out it was a scarf, but I thought it was a snake."

"It's in. Sorry, April," the pukebotamist says, hooking up a bag into April's IV. "Here's some fluids, to get you rehydrated. They'll help you feel better."

Leslie nods and says 'thank you'. He doesn't know why they're thanking this person, April's crying into his shoulder. No one makes April cry, he's never seen April cry and he saw her after the coffee machine broke.

"April?" He wraps an arm around her shoulder until they're essentially hugging, him leaning into the bed so she doesn't fall out. 

"Rock Stoneson hates needles," April whispers, holding the rock in her IV arm.

"IV's are stupid," he agrees. His head touches hers for a second. "You're so sweaty."

April's still crying a little in tiny sniffles, like a puppy with a cold, and Leslie comes to her other side. "Oh, April, I'm so sorry."

\---

She sleeps for a little while. It's a lot like she had imagined death would be, empty unconsciousness and then weird sounds and twisty shapes and-

Ron looms up overhead, blurry, his mustache looks like it's frowning and she asks him if he could bring her coffee and he doesn't say anything.

It hurts to breathe.

_We forgot Nat's bicycle, what if someone-_

Ann comes in and she says something about oxygen and everyone's messing with her hands, she can feel Andy's hands, they're sweaty but cold sweaty and she squeezes and squeezes and he's saying something.

"April, please. April, please be okay!"

Sad sweaty Andy is a bad Andy and she tries to smile but her face isn't a face anymore and she's so cold.

"Ann, can you get her a blanket, she's shaking-" 

"Leslie, she has a fever, I need her to cool down, not warm up. April, can you hear me?"

April's underwater. April's not reachable, please leave a message. April's in the depth's of hell.

April is unconscious.

\---

Ann comes back to April's room, frustrated as usual. The doctor's are worthless, as usual. Granted they do have a couple serious cases, some elderly woman had a stroke, a couple was in a car accident. She sighs. 

_Time to check on April._

Who was downright pleasant earlier. Ann frowns. A pleasant April is not a normal April. 

She knocks and opens the door.

The room got crowded again in her absence, and she's happy at least to see that someone did what she asked and gave April an IV, hopefully also taking some blood samples. Ron's standing over the end of the bed, Leslie's in the corner and look she might have been crying, Andy's got April's hand, and April-

April's lips are bluish. It's very slight, but it's enough. Ann rushes to the other side of the bed.

"April, hey, April, are you awake?"

April mumbles something about a bicycle and Ann take's April's free hand, careful not to disturb the IV. 

"Is she okay?" Ron asks.

"Her nails are blue. I think her oxygen is dropping." She puts April's hand back down and grabs the oximeter. "I'm going to check, but it doesn't look great." She clips it on April's index finger.

_Pulse is over a hundred. Oxygen is down to eighty-five percent._

_She's not breathing well._

Andy's pleading with April, who has started shivering violently.

_Chills. Her fever is probably up._

_Pneumonia?_

"Ann, can you get her a blanket, she's shaking-"

Ann cuts her off, explaining that she can't do that. She tries to get April's attention, but it's clear that April cannot hear them. Ann smoothes her hair back carefully, the fever doesn't feel too much worse but the sweating is next level.

"I'm getting a doctor. I'll drag him if I have to."

"Please do," Ron says darkly. "Get me if you have to."

\---

Natalie rides a bicycle around the hospital room, Andy holds a rock holding a sword and tells April she's the coolest.

The coolest.

It's freezing in the dream, Natalie rides the bicycle up a glacier and Leslie tells April she needs to wear more hospital gowns, keeps putting them on April like they're jackets.

_Stupidest Halloween ever, should have eaten vegetables and stayed away from the flu, stayed away from-_

"APRIL!" Andy is shaking her now and she's screaming or is she crying and there's coughing and Andy just squeezes and squeezes and squeezes and she thinks maybe he kisses her.

Ann comes in yelling at someone, it's funny, Man Perkins and her strength voice. There's some male doctor, he looks stupid, makes Ann look smart, but Ann's not that bad, not anymore. Doctor says she needs an X-Ray. Something about pneumonia.

_Oh hell Mom's going to be pissed._

 

 


	6. Chapter Six

Leslie had failed.

She failed to notice that April was sick. She failed to notice that April had just been released from the hospital with a terrible case of the flu, and had been sent home to an empty house for a long weekend. She should have noticed. She should have figured out, she should have driven over there and gotten April and-

April's shaking again, and Leslie gets out of her chair and goes to April's side and tries to do the thing Ann does, tries to take April's temperature and say soothing things in a calm voice. She makes eye contact with Andy, who has the glassy-shiny eyes of someone who might start crying at any time. 

"It's going to be okay," she tells him, and then looks down at April. "It's going to be okay, April."

It isn't okay.

April starts crying and makes a choking sound and it takes both Andy and Ron to get her up into a sitting position and leaned into Andy in that way that helps her breathe. Leslie pretends not to notice when Andy kisses April on the forehead. She failed. She failed to keep them safe.

Ann comes in, yelling slightly with doctor in tow, just as they've gotten April calmed down, leaning into Andy and breathing in little sniffles. Her eyes are open, and Leslie grabs her hand over Rock Stoneson for a second and squeezes. She thinks April squeezes back.

The doctor looks at a clipboard. "Is this April Ludgate?"

"Yes," Leslie replies. She's the dedicated spokesperson today. As long as April's family is away, she's the next best thing. The doctor doesn't look concerned, not enough, and she grows frustrated. Doesn't he understand? "She's not doing well, she's been coughing up blood and she fainted and we don't know what's wrong with her-"

Ann comes to stand next to Leslie, and gives her hand a squeeze.  _Stop rambling._

"I'm not sure exactly what's wrong with April, but Ann thinks that she might have pneumonia, and that seems right for her presentation. I want to do an X-ray to see if we can see signs of infection," the doctor responds calmly. 

"Okay."

"I have to go back to seeing other patients, but I'll be back as soon as we have April's X-Rays. Ann's going to keep taking care of you." He waits for a a second, in case they have questions, and walks out.

\---

_What a useless doctor._

Andy looks down at the top of April's head. She's still awake, at least. She was crying earlier and it scared the hell out of him. April's not supposed to cry. Nothing's supposed to make her cry, and if something does he's supposed to fight it. But he doesn't know what made her cry.

"Okay," Ann sighs. "That was...helpful, I guess. I should go see if I can get someone to transport April over to radiology, it might be a while though before someone can come with a wheelchair-"

"I can carry her," Andy offers, sitting up straight. A chance to do something. A chance to be useful and help April.

"That's not normally what we'd..." Ann trails off, looking at April. "You know what? Okay. That'll be so much easier than getting someone up here. I'll have to take you down though, but that's fine." Ann ducks down, so she's closer to April. "Hey April. We need to get you an X-Ray, okay? Andy's going to carry you. Do you understand?"

April nods a little bit.

"Okay, great." Ann sounds super smiley, like always, but her smile is gone when she looks back at Andy. "I need to get her IV unattached, and then we're going to go, okay?" She looks at the empty IV bag. "Perfect."

"Is there anything we should do?" asks Leslie.

"Not right now," Ann replies. "Honestly, at this point we just really need to get her that X-Ray. If it's pneumonia, we can start treatment. She's likely going to be admitted though, her vitals are not doing good. Andy, you ready?"

"Yes." He gathers April up like a cat and moves into a standing position. "Look, April, I'm super strong."

April looks really pale and tired, but she reaches up with one warm, sweaty hand and pokes him in the nose. "You're a super hero. I'm cold. Let's get coffee."

"No coffee right now. We're going to get you X-Ray vision."

"He means we're getting you an X-Ray, April," says Ann as she opens the door to April's room.

Leslie grabs April's hand again. "April, it's going to be okay. Ron and I will wait here for you."

"You make a good guard dog," April tells Andy, and then looks at Leslie. "You are also a good guard dog but maybe more of a bird or-" April breaks off coughing, and Ann motions to Andy to keep moving.

He keeps moving. He's so good at that. So good at being the April Airlift. So good.

\---

Ron watches Leslie deflate as they leave the room.

"You know, I'm not a fan of that doctor," he says conversationally. 

Leslie doesn't respond.

"I mean, he could have come in here faster. I know it's a hospital and all, but April's not just some person with a bruise or sniffles. I'm really not a huge fan."

Still silence.

"Leslie, are you-" he turns to her, noticing she's folded up somewhat in the corner. "Leslie?"

"Ron, what if something is really wrong with April? How could we have not noticed? Her family is gone, I should call them, I don't even know their number and I keep forgetting to ask April, but what am I even going to say? 'Hello, it's Ann Perkins, I'm sorry but your daughter is in the hospital with pneumonia and she's very ill. Have fun seeing colleges!" Leslie sounds increasingly hysterical, and Ron finally extends a hand and puts it on her shoulder.

"Leslie, she's going to be fine. When she comes back, she'll tell you her mom's number and we'll call them. We'll explain the situation. But April's going to be fine. And when she's all better, you'll have a stern conversation with her about telling us when she's sick."

"Yeah," Leslie laughs shakily. "Yeah, I will. A  _very_ stern conversation."

\---

_What is happening and why am I flying?_

April looks up and see's Andy's face. He's a blurry mess. Nervous blurry mess.

"Hey Andy."

"Hey April!" He smiles. "We're going to go get X-Rays shot at you. It'll be great!"

Everything is very cold and she shivers and grabs at his shirt. He feels cold. Andy's supposed to be warm. Why is he cold?

Cold cold cold.

There's a cold table and Andy's setting her down on it. She makes a high squeaky noise like a dog toy and tries to sit up, but Ann and some person she doesn't know keeps pushing her back down and Andy is saying something in a loud voice.

"I'm not leaving, Ann, I'm not! I'm staying here! I don't care if the X-Rays make me spiderman or something, I'm staying here!"

April closes her eyes and tries to go to sleep.

\---

Leslie's phone starts ringing a few seconds later. She slaps her hands down the sides of her jacket and then grabs it. 

"It's Ben," she tells Ron, and answers.

"Leslie, it's Ben, I'm in your office and no one's here. Where is everyone?"

"Hey Ben, sorry, we're in the ER right now-"

"All of you? Oh my God, were you in some sort of accident? What happened?"

"No, Ben, it's April. She's really sick, I don't know what to do and we're not sure what's wrong with her-"

Ron grabs the phone, and turns it on speakerphone. "Hey Ben, Ron here. We're on speakerphone. April's sick, we think she has pneumonia."

"Pneumonia? That can be very serious. Listen, Ron, Leslie, we're supposed to be having a big meeting today, and it would really be good to have you both here, even if it's just for thirty minutes. I can explain the situation, and we'll keep it as short as possible, but do you think you both could make it back shortly?"

Leslie looks at Ron, helplessly. He looks unamused, as usual.

"April's getting an X-Ray right now, and I think we need to check in with her first. Leslie's sort of her stand-in family member right now. But if April's okay, we can come back shortly." He rolls his eyes, and that's enough that Leslie's able to find her voice again.

"But we need to come back as soon as possible, April's family is out of town and we need to make sure she's okay and someone is with her because she's really sick, Ben, she passed out and she's coughing up blood-"

"I'll call you back when April's back," Ron cuts her off, and hangs up. Leslie flaps her hands uselessly, frowning at him.

"Ron, you cut me off, and now we have to go back and April needs us, why is this happening, why is she sick?" She goes silent, sitting down in the chair by the empty bed.

Ron sighs. "This better be an important meeting."


	7. Chapter Seven

Ann tries to tell him he has to leave April, but he promised not to leave, not even to pee, so he can't go anywhere.

It takes Andy several minutes to convey to them how committed he is to not going anywhere, but eventually they give him a heavy cape-jacket thing and tell him to put it on. It feels like it weighs as much as April did, and he wears it and stands next to April and holds her hand. Her hand is sweaty, still, and she seems incredibly tired of lying on the table and keeps trying to get back up. He and Ann keep having to push her back down.

"Hey, April, look at my cool shirt." He holds out his arms, showing her the way the apron falls nearly to his knees. "What do you think this thing is for."

"It's to protect you from the x-Ray, as you insist on staying in the room," replies the radiologist. "April, I'm going to go into the other room to take the picture. Ann's going to come with me. I'm going to tell you to hold your breath at points, okay? Hold very still."

"What about April, doesn't she need something to protect her?" This radiologist was a fool, clearly, because April was not wearing a cool apron. 

"No, we need to make sure we can take the picture."

"She'll be fine, Andy," Ann adds quickly. 

He narrows his eyes at the radiologist. "Fine." He sits down in the chair next to the table and squeezes April's hand. "Okay, April, we're going to hold very very still, alright?"

April keeps looking at him like he's grown several heads, and maybe one of them is a lizard head. He smiles and she smiles back. She has the best smile in the world.

"April, take a deep breath in," the radiologist commands over the speaker. 

"Come on," Andy coaxes, and they take a deep breath in together and breathe out when they're instructed and there's a loud sound as the machine right over April's chest takes a photo. It takes a couple times before they have all the pictures they want, and April's breathing pretty hard by then, her breathing a weird mixture of a coughing noise and a crying noise.

He hates this. He hates that he can't do anything to make her better. It's pretty much the best thing in the world when they're finally done with the x-Rays and let him take off the stupid apron and pick April back up, because at least then he's helping.

\---

Leslie's done thirteen laps around the ER when she finally sees Ann come back through the double doors leading downstairs to radiology. Andy's behind her, looking stressed and confused and generally like an oversized child.

_Some things never change._

Leslie rushes back into April's room and waits for them to come in. Her hands have been shaking for a while now. Caffeine, maybe, or stress, or just everything. This hospital. This situation. Everything.

Andy sets April back on the bed gently. She looks about the same, sweaty and pale and very, very still. There's no seething anger and dry humor here. There's very little April at all. Leslie's stomach does the rough equivalent of a barrel roll.

It's past one in the afternoon and Ron hasn't even mentioned lunch once, so she knows he's terrified.

"How were April's x-Rays," Leslie asks Ann. "Is it pneumonia? What's going to happen?"

"We need to wait for the radiologist to read them, the doctor will come in and tell us how they look. It'll take at least half an hour, probably." Ann rolls her eyes. "Honestly, Leslie, I don't know why they're taking so long, we need to get her on some antibiotics. Something. She's not even been hostile once. Did you call her  mother?"

"No, I haven't gotten the phone number from her mother. Ann, Ron and I have to go back for a brief meeting, we'll be gone for something like forty-five minutes. Do you think anything is going to happen?"

Ann pauses and blows air out of her mouth, thinking. "The doctor may come in before then, if it's pneumonia he'll determine whether we're admitting her, and she'll get moved to the main part of the hospital. That's the point where you really need to call her parents, if you haven't already. In the incredibly unlikely event that he chooses to discharge her instead, she'll have some _very_ detailed instructions and someone is going to have to stay with her. We might not have heard from the doctor by the time you get back. Could Andy stay?"

Andy looks over at them, almost angry. "I'm not leaving."

"It's okay, Andy, Ben said he just needed Ron and me," Leslie replies quickly. It's weird seeing Andy aggressive. "I think Ron and I should go now, get things out of the way, but we'll come back. Ron, can you call Ben? Ask if we could do it now, and make him promise we'll be back soon." She hands her phone out to Ron, and he takes it and steps into the hall.

\---

"Hey April?"

April is lying on her back in a swimming pool. There's water in her lungs, she's inhaled some and she's slowly sinking deeper and deeper. Someone will pull her out soon, and she keeps her eyes closed.

"April?"

She blinks her eyes open even though she's underwater, and there's Leslie, blurry and confused looking. She reaches out a hand, and Leslie takes it. "Hey April. It's Leslie. How you doing?"

"Swimming." Her voice hurts. It hurts to breathe, someone is kicking her in the ribs over and over and she can feel her heart try to escape her chest cavity. Everything is strange and blurry-dizzy. She wants to scream, but she can't.

Leslie looks scared. "Um, no, you're not swimming." She uses her non-April hand and pushes April's bangs around. They're stuck to her, sweaty, and April wonders for a second if she's a raisin. Shriveled. No skin. Only skin. "April, Ron and I have to go back to the office. We'll be back very soon, okay?"

_No. No don't go, where are we, where are we?_

"Andy?" she asks shakily.

"He's right next to you. Andy's going to stay."

"Right here, April." He's off to her side, holding the hand that has Rock Stoneson in it. She turns her head to look at him and the whole world bucks and rolls and goes black for a second.

"-are you awake. April?" Leslie's voice fades back in. Worried voice "Oh God, April, I don't know if I can leave you-" 

April drowns them out in her coughing. It tastes like blood and death.

_Don't go._

\---

Ron leaves the busy hospital room, a mixture of grateful and rueful. He dials Ben's number as quickly as possible. "Ben."

"Ron, how's April?" asks Ben immediately.

"Unsure. The doctor's are taking forever to tell us what's wrong with her. I'm not impressed. We have a while to wait for her X-Rays. Leslie wants to know if we should come over now. We'd have to be back very soon, though, April is  _not_ doing well."

"If you come now, I'd have you and Leslie talk for twenty minutes, just to get your voices heard by all the officials who traveled to be here today. I've informed them you won't be staying, and they're completely understanding. You'd be back in forty-five, maybe in half an hour if you drive quickly." Ben's voice is clipped. "I really hope April is okay."

Ron hangs up and walks back into April's room.

She's coughing. Honestly, it scares the hell out of him, why is she coughing like that. Leslie's in tears and Andy's helping April sit back up. Ann's doing the thing with the weird red light she clips onto April's finger. 

April looks straight at him but he's not sure she recognizes him. He tries to be gentle and shakes her foot a little to get her attention. "April?"

She blinks and he thinks he sees her eyes cross and uncross. "Dad?"

"Wrong. It's Ron."

April smiles fuzzily. "Ron. You don't have any meetings."

"I know. You're awesome like that, kid." He turns to Leslie. "Ben says if we leave now he could have us back in forty-five, maybe less."

"Ron, I'm not sure if we can leave her-" Leslie stops as April starts coughing again, and then leans in, whispering. "Ron, I'm scared."

He whispers back. "Ann's got her, Leslie, she's a wonderful nurse. We'll be back soon."

Leslie nods. "Okay. Andy's staying."

"Of course." He turns to Ann. "Ann, Leslie and I are going to leave. We'll be back as soon as possible. Andy, if anything happens, call Leslie, okay?"

Andy nods. Ron puts his hands on Leslie's shoulder and steers her out of the room before she can protest.

\---

 

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

"Where's Leslie?"

Andy looked down at the top of April's head. She was curled up in the bed a little bit, leaning into him, Rock Stoneson in one fist and his hand in the other. She didn't look good. Well, she looked like April, which meant she looked great. But she didn't look good.

"She and Ron went back for some boring meeting. You're lucky you don't have to go."

"Did they take the bicycle?" Her voice was small, and he could hear her breathing heavily after every other word.

"What? No, we came in the car. Don't you remember? And I carried you?"

"Natalie's going to see all the colleges but she-" April coughed wetly. "But she...she won't go. No one goes."

He wrapped his free arm around her shoulders and pulled her up into something that resembled a sitting position. "Come on, sit up, you'll breath better. I've never met Natalie, can I meet her some time?"

"She always wears my pants...Andy, I like you."

_Um, what?_

"I like you too, April. You're the coolest." 

"No like, I really like you. Can we go get coffee?"

"No, I don't think that's a good idea right now. Maybe when you're feeling better, and the X-Rays wear off. And I really like you too. But I think we should have this conversation when you're not sweaty and full of tubes, okay?"

April nodded against his shoulder, sleepily. She was quiet for a few minutes, and he could hear her breath noisily. 

"Andy? Where's Leslie?"

_Hell._

\---

Ron drove about as quickly as you could in Pawnee, what with the elderly people clogging up the road every couple miles, but it didn't take them long to be back in front of their beloved building.

"Alright," Leslie said breathlessly. "We go in, we talk as fast as we possibly can, and we get back here and we go straight back, okay? In fact, I think we should let me talk. Not because I don't think you have anything to say, you're the boss, but I can talk really really fast and that'll get us out of there as quickly as possible. Alright? Go team!"

Ron grabbed her shoulder before she could speed away. "Two things, Leslie. One, you talk, but if they try to keep us there, I reserve my right to bring down the unholy wrath of Ron Swanson without any lunch upon them, understood?" Leslie nodded eagerly. "Two, we should grab any of April's personal belongings that she might want, as well as Andy's and our own." 

"Sounds good, alright, go team!" Leslie began speedwalking away, Ron's hand still on her shoulder. She managed to tow him for several feet before he let go and marched into the building alongside her. They immediately ran into Ben, who was waiting for them.

"Hey, thank you so much for coming, I know this is a bad time with April being sick and we'll have you on your way as quickly as we can, okay?"

"Okay. I'm going to be doing all the talking as fast as I can so that we can get out of here as soon as possible." Leslie paused for breath. "Sorry, Ben, no offense."

"None taken." 

\---

When Ann had dated Andy, he had been an immature (yet still lovable) manchild who, despite many positive traits, ultimately drove their relationship into the ground with his immaturity. She'd perhaps always have a soft spot for him, but Ann understood clearly that any romantic aspect of their relationship was best left nonexistent.

It was still strange though to see Andy with April. 

Ann came back into April's room about ten minutes after Leslie and Ron left, carrying a bag of IV fluids for April. Until the doctor could come in with April's X-Rays, the best Ann could do for her was monitor her vitals and keep her hydrated. She knocked twice before coming in.

Andy was sitting in April's bed with her, one arm wrapped around her back and the other gently petting her head. He looked up at Ann as she came in. 

"Hey, Andy. How's everything going in here?"

"I think she's asleep," he replied quietly. "But she was really confused and kept forgetting where Leslie was. And she's been coughing more. Ann, I'm scared."

"I'm sorry, Andy. I wish the doctor would come back with the X-Rays. I brought April more IV fluid, maybe it'll help her feel better." Andy perked up, looking slightly more hopeful. "I want to check her vitals before I attach the bag, but after I do that is there anything I can get for you?"

"I'm fine," Andy replied. "I just want April to be better."

Ann nodded and began to take April's vitals.

_Oxygen is down to 83%. Temperature is the same. Blood sugar is still low, I might need to put her on a dextrose instead._

"Okay Andy, false alarm, I need to get a different kind of fluid for April. She needs some nutrition with her fluids. I'll be right back."

\---

It's swimming.

Ann is fussing around with the needle in her elbow. Needle needle. It doesn't feel good, but she sets up a bag. Above her head, Andy speaks as though he's underwater.

He is. They're swimming.

When she breathes she can feel the water in her lungs bubbling up, like blowing bubbles in milk.

_Where's Leslie where's Leslie_

_Mom? Mom?_

It's nothingness and it's emptiness.

\---

Ann gives April a bag of sugar or something. It's something. Ann's trying to help them at least. That's all that matters.

Andy keeps sitting with April, arm wrapped around her. They lean back in the bed together and he listens to the way April breaths. She sounds like she's blowing bubbles.

"You're going to be okay, April. I've got you. I've got you."

She mumbles in response and he pets her head. Her hair feels funny, different than his. It's so shiny, he could look at it forever-

April coughs up a load of blood, down onto the blanket over their legs. She makes a whining sound.

"Shh. It's okay, Ann'll take care of it. Ann's taking care of us." He tried to remember where the beeper was, but he couldn't seem to find it. 

_April's more important._

Speaking of April, April was shaking again. He hated it when this happened, but there wasn't much he could do but hold on to her and breathe, pretending he could breathe for the both of them. He glances up at the clock on the wall. Leslie and Ron left forty minutes ago.

"Andy, I want Leslie, I want-" April coughs, and there's more blood. He can feel his heart beating hard. "I want Leslie, I want my mom. I want-" again with the coughing.

"Do you have your phone?" She shakes her head.

_I gotta get Ann, and I gotta get Leslie._

"Andy I'm cold."

"It's the fever, April, you're okay. I've got you. I've got you. Where's your phone?"

"Jacket." 

Her jacket is in the pile of clothing from when Leslie made her take things off and put on the hospital gown. He's able to just barely reach it. "Okay. I'm calling Leslie." He can't unlock April's phone, so he just dial's Leslie's number.

"Hey Leslie, it's Andy," he says when he reaches the voicemail. "April really needs you to come back now. Please. Please, Leslie," suddenly tears come to his eyes and he blinks them away. "Okay see you soon." He sets the phone back on her clothing. "You still doing okay, April?"

"No." She presses her head against his chest, and he thinks she's crying again. She's still shaking too hard to tell.

"Right." He glances around again desperately for the beeper. But it's gone, he can't find it. "Right. But it's okay. I've got you. I've got you."

\---

"Thank you very much, but Leslie and I need to be leaving now, goodbye," Ron bluntly cut off the board member, grabbing Leslie by her arm and towing her backwards out of the conference room.

"Ron, that was forty-five minutes, we should have left ages ago!"

"I know. Is your phone on silent? You should check it." Ron lead them quickly back to the Parks and Rec office, striding in quickly to April's desk and grabbing her backpack. He slung it over his shoulder. It was rather small.

"Ron, Leslie, where have you guys been?" Tom asked.

"Not now, Tom, April's in the hospital," replied Leslie, struggling her find her phone in her jacket once again. "Aha, here it is."

They quickly walked back to Andy's shoeshine station and grabbed his belongings.

"I got a voice mail from April," Leslie said sharply.

"Listen to it."

Leslie pressed a few buttons, and Andy's voice began to come out of the phone's speaker. 

_"Hey Leslie, it's Andy. April really needs you to come back now. Please. Please, Leslie...Okay see you soon."_

"Ron, oh my god, we need to get back now, something's wrong, Andy sounds so scared why did we leave, why did we-" 

"Leslie, we need to go, come on." Ron grabbed her by the jacket and began to tow her to the parking lot, not stopping until they reached his car and he began to break all Pawnee speed limits for the third time today.

\---


	9. Chapter 9

Ron and Leslie arrive back at the hospital at two thirteen in the afternoon. Leslie hardly waits for Ron to find a parking space before throwing open the door.

"Good God, woman, you're going to get us both killed!" Ron parks the car and chases after her. Leslie's coat flaps in the breeze like some sort of bizarre superhero. She shows no sign of stopping, she had practically vibrated the whole way here with her sheer desire to arrive, replaying the message on her phone like it would somehow solve their problems.

Ron wasn't a particularly fast runner, so there's plenty of time for thoughts to roam his head unbidden as he races across the parking lot. Ideas for lunch and snapshots of the meeting and thoughts about April. Mostly thoughts about April.

_God dammit girl, you better be alright._

\---

"ANDY!"

He and April are curled up in the bed. She looks the same, Leslie thinks. Pale. Bluish around the lips, sweaty, tired, thin.  _Wa_ _s April always that thin,_ she wondered suddenly.  _Is this new? I have to talk to her about eating, about sleeping, I have to talk to her-_

"Leslie!" Andy looks tired and relieved and she would hug him if there was any room in that hospital bed.

"Andy, oh my God I'm so sorry we should have been back sooner but those idiots just kept talking and Ben couldn't make them stop, he tried, really, really he tried. I'm so sorry you must have been so scared." Leslie pants. "Andy, how is she?"

"I don't know, Leslie, I don't know and they haven't told me but she kept asking for you-"

It's like a kick in the chest and she can feel all the air turn to stone in her lungs. April asked for her and she wasn't there.

"-she just wanted you, or her mom, either and I couldn't get her to understand what was happening. Ann got her a sugar IV or something but they won't tell me what's wrong with her."

She's not really listening to him anymore, she just comes to the side of the bed and puts her hands on either side of April's face in a way that would definitely get her punched in any other circumstance. "April, hey. April? Can you hear me? It's Leslie, I'm here."

April doesn't move and it's like the kicks in her chest won't stop.

"April, come on, I'm here now. Please, April." Her eyes flood with tears, why is she crying? And where's Ron, anyway? She blinks and she doesn't take her eyes off of April, but she starts talking again. "So Ann gave her a sugar IV? What for?"

"Her blood sugar is super low or something, I don't know." _Damn it, April! "_ I guess she wasn't eating? Why wasn't she eating, wasn't she hungry?"

"She was sick. God, we should have noticed, we should have done something." She strokes April's hair. "Come on, April, wake up."

"Andy?" pants Ron, coming into their room with a moderate-sized bang. "Andy, what's wrong. How's April?" 

"I don't know." Leslie still doesn't look at him, but she can hear that he sounds small and broken, and she blindly pats his shoulder.

"Ron, you need to find a doctor, or Ann, we have to do something Ron-"

And that's when the doctor walks in.

\---

The doctor rounds the corner and Ann can tell that the results aren't good before he says anything. There's X-Rays in his hand, and she can see sections of April's lungs that are just white.  _Oh no._

"What is it?"

"Pneumonia. Bacterial. Probably post-influenza bacterial pneumonia. Her immune system was weakened by the flu, and it got her much worse than it should have."

They begin to walk back towards April's room. "And the plan?

"We have to admit her. Entire wedges of her lungs are just full of fluid, and she's not well enough to follow home-care advice."

"Alright. Let's go tell them."

\---

Andy hates the doctor, but April is a warm sweaty ball of weird breathing and shaking and so Andy's still glad to see him when he comes through the door with Ann.

They all look at the doctor, even Leslie who hasn't looked at anything but April since she came running in. Andy pulls April a little closer to him and puts his face down towards hers. "Hey, April, doctor's here."

She apparently does not care.

"April Ludgate has pneumonia." Four words and everything in Andy stills to a stop for a few seconds. April coughs a little. "She has a severe case of bacterial pneumonia, likely a secondary infection due to her prior influenza, and needs to be admitted to the hospital and put on IV antibiotics. They'll keep her until she starts responding, and then we'll discharge her with detailed instructions."

"Okay." Ron's voice is hard and soft and loud and flat. Like bad cookies. 

"Ann will take her up as soon as they have a bed for her." The doctor comes closer to the bed, and Andy wants to push him away but restrains himself. "Ms. Ludgate, can you hear me?" 

April doesn't move.

"I'll see to it that someone explains this to her when she wakes up, but in the meantime someone should notify any family members."

Then the stupid doctor walks out and just leaves them there.

"Leslie," Ann says gently. "Leslie, hey, breathe. She's going to be fine. I'm sure her nurse will be great, I need to go call up to see if they have a bed for April but I'll be right back, okay?"

Ann walks back and then it's just the three of them standing around April's bed. Andy kisses her on the forehead. He knows he probably shouldn't, not when she's not awake and all fever-y, but in the moment it's the only thing he can do.

\---

It takes them a couple moments to speak. Andy finds his voice first.

"What's bacterial pneumonia anyway?"

"It's an infection in her lungs," Ron replies, serious. "There's fluid in April's lungs, and it's infected. It's hard for her to breathe."

"Is she going to be okay?" Andy sounds terrified.

To Leslie, they sound far, far away. She's watching April's eyes move under her eyelids.  _Is she dreaming?_

"I hope so, Andy. They're going to give her some medication." Ron pauses. "Leslie?" She can feel him put a hand on her shoulder. "Leslie?"

"I'm fine, Ron." Her voice breaks.

"April's going to be fine," Ron says calmly. She knows him just well enough to hear the waver in his voice. "A couple days of medicine and she'll be insulting everyone."

Leslie grabs April's hand and squeezes it. "Will they let us stay with her? I'm not leaving, we're not leaving her here, Ron, we're not doing that, she's our assistant and we have to stay with her-"

"I'm not going anywhere," Andy cuts in.

"None of us are. Well, maybe in shifts. Just to shower and eat. But we're not leaving her here. Leslie, look at me. Take a deep breath" 

He looks more stressed than she's ever seen him, but she takes a breath.

"Good. Now," he takes April's phone from Andy and hands it to her. "Call April's parents."

\---


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're adding a new character, woooooo!

April's phone is warm, probably from Andy's hand. Leslie looks at the piece of technology Ron had handed her and presses the home button to get it to wake up. In true nihilist form, April hadn't set a screensaver for the lock screen, but she had the good sense at least to make an emergency contact, her mother, accessible.

"What do I say?" Leslie asks tremulously.

"Just tell them what happened."

"Ron, why do I have to do this, you're her boss you should tell them."

"Leslie, it'll go easier if they hear it from you."

Leslie glances from him to April, squeezes April's hand, and takes a deep breath.

_What would Ann say. 'Hi, this is Ann Perkins'- no, no, I'm Leslie. 'Hi, this is Leslie Knope. How are you doing?'_

She dials the number without waiting for further planning. There's no ring, and she finds herself immediately listening to the automatic recording telling her to leave a message. "They're not picking up."

Ron sighs.

"Hi, this is Leslie Knope, I'm one of April's supervisors at the Parks and Rec office. I'm just calling to let you know that I've had to take April to the Emergency Room today because it seems like her flu might have turned into pneumonia. She's being admitted to the hospital. Please call me back as soon as you get this. Thanks, bye." She hangs up and takes a deep, shaky breath.

\---

_"Zuzu!"_

_April looks up into the scary-bright Pawnee sky. "Dad?"_

_"Down here."_

_She looks at him over the edge of the roof. "Dad? What's going on?"_

_"We're taking Natalie now. Goodbye, take care of yourself. Love you!"_

_Her father grows small in the distance. "Dad, wait! Wait, come back, don't leave me up here!"_

_But he's gone._

_\---_

"Okay, Ann. It'll be a few hours until April has a bed ready for her," chirps Becky. "But we'll get her up here as soon as possible. You just follow the instructions Dr. Matthews gave you. Gotta go, you take care."

Ann thanks Becky and hangs up the phone before checking her notes. She had gotten a few minutes to talk to the doctor that would be caring for April once she was on the floor, so at least now they had a care plan.

The IV antibiotics should be here in a few minutes, they were being brought downstairs from the floor. She already has fever reducers. In a couple minutes, she'll be able to actually do something to help April.

 _Thank God I actually get to do something._ Ann wonders if Ron would literally kill her if she came back empty-handed one more time.  _No, Ron's a reasonable person. He'd kill the doctor._

Ann sees the carts with the antibiotics and grabs it, barely stopping to check before she rushes back into April's room.

\--

"We have to wait a while before April gets a bed, but this should help." 

Andy jumps slightly as Ann comes in. He must have been falling asleep. April's super nice to lie next to, even if she is really sweaty.

"What is it?" Ron asks.

"Antibiotics. I'm going to put it in through her IV. And fever reducers. It won't help right away, but lowering her fever should make her more comfortable, and the antibiotics will help with the infection eventually."

"Oh Ann you beautiful sparrow, thank you." Leslie pets Ann's head gently and steps out of the way to let Ann near April's tubing. She doesn't let go of April's hand though. It's as though Andy and Leslie have a secret agreement that someone always has to be holding April's hand.

April's still asleep, head against his shoulder. He wishes she would move, say something, do something other than cough. 

"Hey April," he says quietly. "Ann's got something for you. You're going to feel better really soon."

Ann pushes the medication through April's IV and he can hear Leslie tell her about how April's mom didn't pick up the phone, but all of that seems very far away and small compared to the bed and April and Rock Stoneson and Andy finds himself falling asleep.

\---

At roughly four PM Ron finds himself trying to buy lunch from a vending machine. He frowns at the paltry options, knowing it would be better if he took the time to go down to the cafeteria. But going to the cafeteria would mean leaving the ER, and he was pushing it leaving Leslie alone, seeing Andy had fallen asleep.

Growling quietly, he selects two bags of chips and then, remembering Leslie's sweet tooth, a bag of gummy bears. He tears it open for her as he walks back to April's room. 

Ann gives him a sad smile as he walks by. She's doing her best, and he knows that, but it's hard for him to smile back. He nods in acknowledgment, though.

He places the bag of gummy bears in Leslie's lap. "Have some sugar, Leslie."

"Oh Ron, bless you." She uses her one free hand to take a handful of gummy bears, seeming to take particular effort to pull out the green ones. "Why didn't April's mom pick up."

"She could be out of service. Or her phone could be turned off. Or dead. Natalie's talking to college's, so it's likely she turned it off for a meeting. She'll call you back." He opens a bag of chips. "Should I wake Andy up?"

"Let him sleep. He's tired." Leslie yawns, and he can see that she's physically drooping. Hopefully the sugar will kick in. "What's the plan for tonight?'

"Pardon?"

"I mean, they'll admit April, and someone should stay with her. I know Andy wants to, but he's got to sleep. Do you think you could help me convince him to let me stay tonight in case April's mother calls?"

Ron looks at Andy. He doesn't think he could remove that boy from the bed if he wanted to. "Probably. But you'll call us if anything happens."

"Of course." Leslie sounds significantly more awake. He glances down and notices she's plowed through the better quarter of the gummy bears. "Ron, I wasn't here and she asked for me. April asked for me, and now I'm here and she won't wake up. Why aren't we waking her up."

He echoes her. "Let her sleep. She's tired." These chips taste terrible. "She's sick. Sick people are tired."

"How could we not have noticed?"

"You'll talk to her, remember?" He pulls his chair up next to her, and pats her very gingerly on the shoulder. "We'll  _both_ talk to her."

\---

Ben Wyatt disentangles himself from the last stragglers and glances up at the clock in the conference room.

_How long could people talk in this town??_

He feels bad for letting Leslie get trapped, considering how sick April is. April's an abrasive piece of work, but pneumonia is a serious illness and it's better that she have her friends with her.

He considers calling and apologizing, but they're in a hospital and he's sure they have better things to do. But he'll apologize to her when he next sees her.

And in the meantime, no more stupid meetings.

\---

Ann's pager beeps and she grabs to check it, already knowing what it's likely going to say.

_Bed's ready for April upstairs._

_Oh God, I have to wake up Andy, don't I? That's never easy._

Sighing, she shakes her head and prepares for battle.


	11. Chapter 11

From his eyes-closed, head-in-hands perch on the chair near April’s bed, Ron hears the thump of incoming footsteps.

“Those are Ann’s footsteps,” Leslie pipes up from along side him. She’s still going through the gummy bears like a champ, though she’s going to run out soon. Hopefully she’ll have enough of a boost to carry her through at least a few hours.

Ron ignores the fact that Leslie apparently memorizes the sounds of her friend’s footsteps. Sure enough, Ann opens the door.

“Alright, I’ve got someone coming down to get April, they’ve got a bed for her upstairs. We’re going to need Andy out of the bed for the duration of the transport, though.”

“Alright.” Grumbling, Ron rises into a standing position. The combination of his earlier sprint through the parking lot followed by hours of sitting has left his legs strangely stiff. Or maybe it was the terrible hospital chair causing his muscles to slowly die. He could make a better one, he knows he could. He stands next to Andy and grabs the younger man firmly by the shoulder. “Andy. Hey, Andy.”

Andy’s eyes come flying open, and he groggily smiles at Ron. “Hey Ron. What’s happening.”

“You have to get out of the bed. They’re coming to take April upstairs.”

“Oh, um.” Andy quickly turns to his side and looks down at April. It’s obvious that he hadn’t remembered that he was sleeping in a hospital bed. He blinks a couple times, and then turns to Ann. “She’s going upstairs?”

“She’s being admitted.” Ann’s taking some of April’s vitals. “It’s for the best, if we sent her home it would take a lot of work to make sure she was getting enough fluids and taking all her medication.”

“Oh.” Andy carefully shifts April off of him and moves off the bed, still holding her hand. He blinks into space a few more times, swaying on his feet and looking very lost. He smiles at Leslie, though. “Hey Leslie.”

“Hey Andy,” responds Leslie from the floor. “You should sit down. Chair’s behind you.”

Andy sits down.

“Want some chips, son?” Ron chucks the bag of chips at him, which Andy fails spectacularly to catch due to only having one available hand and being half asleep. Ann sighs, picks them up, and hands them to Andy.

“Let’s not throw things in the ER, okay?” She bends back over a machine, looking at it thoughtfully.

“How’s April?” asks Leslie desperately.

“Her blood sugar is better, due to the dextrose, which is good. She really wasn’t eating anything, I’m willing to bet the last time she had eaten was right before her family left Thursday. Her fever’s a little better, due to the fever reducers, but I think she might need supplemental oxygen, as her oxygen stats are still dipping. Overall, she’s just really sick and needs her antibiotics to work.” Ann turns to Leslie. “I’ll check in with you later, but I have to go check on other people, and the bed should be here soon.”

“Thank you Ann.” Leslie sounds tearful again. Ron just hopes she doesn’t cry too much. He’s not sure if he could find more gummy bears for her.

\---

A few minutes after Ann leaves, someone new comes in.

Andy looks at them suspiciously as they come over to April’s bed. “She can’t walk, right?”

 _What a dumb question, no, she can’t, that’s why Ann wanted you to come,_ Andy thinks aggressively.

“Not right now, no,” Leslie replies more politely. “She’s really not well.”

“Okay.” The stranger grabs the sides of April’s bed and pulls them up so her bed turns into a little boat. Andy thinks that looks pretty cool, and he forgets to be upset for a few seconds.

He’s so tired. The whole world makes no sense. It’s like he’s walking around in a cloud of cotton candy. Everything is hazy and sticky and he closes his eyes.

“Andy-?” Ron puts his hand on Andy’s shoulder. “We’re moving.”

“Are you falling asleep?” Leslie asks sharply. She sounds worried, and he drags his eyes open. Sure enough, Ron is steering him into the hallway.

“I’m fine…” he can hear that his voice sounds like he’s had a party with the snakejuice and his eyes flop back closed. Ron has both hands on his shoulders now.

“Son, I can’t carry you.”

Andy squeezes April’s hand. Even with all the cotton-candy clouds in the world, he knows that he needs to keep holding on to her. She’s still so sweaty, Ann said her fever was getting better, but she’s still sweaty. He drags his eyes back open and looks at April. She looks so small.

His eyes close again.

\---

Leslie sighs as she watches Ron drag-carry Andy into the hospital room. Andy’s eyes are shut, and she wonders how much he’s awake. He does have a good grip on April’s hand though, so at least he’s awake enough for that.

It’s nearly five in the evening, so she knows it’s not the number of hours he’s been awake that’s destroying him. It’s the stress. He’s too worried about April.

Leslie watches Andy slump forward in one of the two provided visitor chairs. She knows that Andy would love to stay with April tonight, but watching him nearly fall in the hallway convinced her even more of what she had already decided. Andy needs to go home and get some sleep. And anyway, she should be here in case April’s mom calls.

_Just a matter of getting Andy to agree to leave._

She’s thinking up a plan already. She’ll have Ron take Andy and drop him off using Ron’s car. The two of them will get some sleep. Ron will come back and get Leslie in the morning. It’ll work. It has to.

A new nurse is getting April set up, giving her another bag of fluids and one of those air tubes for her nose to help her breathe. They seem perfectly capable, but Leslie still wishes that Ann was here. April still hasn’t woken up. She hasn’t woken up and seen that Leslie came back.

That still makes Leslie want to cry. But she doesn’t cry, she has to be strong.

“Ron, can I speak to you for a second,” she asks calmly. Andy doesn’t even move, and she and Ron move into the hallway.

“He has to go home.”

“Agreed,” Ron replies. “So, are you staying?”

“Yes. You’ll come back for me in the morning. You and I should probably be in the office for at least a few minutes. We can leave Andy here, and then come back. I don’t want to leave her too much until her parents are back, especially right now when we haven’t heard from her mom at all.”

“How are we supposed to get that boy to the car though. What if he refuses?”

“I’m kind of hoping that he’ll be too tired to refuse.”

“Maybe not the safest bet.”

She sighs. “I know. What would you do?”

“I say we try to move him as soon as possible. He’s disoriented and half-asleep, we might be able to just lead him to the car without any more problems.”

“Okay. Do you think you could do that? I need to stay with April.”

“Probably. Operation move-Andy is a go.”


	12. Chapter 12

Andy follows Ron to the car like a willing puppy. He had been hard to coax out of the hospital room, unwilling to let go of April's hand. It was only after repetitive promises that Leslie would call if  _anything_ happened and that Ron would get him bright and early to bring him back that Andy sagged.

It was hard to watch Andy tearing up as he hugged April and finally let Ron steer him out of the room. The walk to the elevator is painful silenced sprinkled with occasional sniffling.

"She's going to be okay, son."

Andy sniffles.

"Andy, listen. She's going to be okay. Leslie and I need you to get some sleep so you can be with April when Leslie and I go back to the office for a bit. We need you alert."

Andy doesn't perk up the way Ron hoped he would, be the sniffling stops. The parking lot looks emptier then it did earlier this afternoon,, and the find the car easily. Andy climbs into the passenger seat. Ron drives them home.

It's a couple dozen minutes of sniffle-free silence before they pull up in front of Andy's house. It's a tiny, dingy place that Andy shares with some other guy that Ron doesn't know. Ron glances over and notices Andy slumped against the window and nudges him. Andy groans and blinks.

"We're here. You okay to make it in?"

Andy nods and opens the door. "She'll call us?"

"If something happens to April and she  _doesn't_ call us, I'll have her head. Get some sleep, Andy."

\---

Leslie watches them leave, immediately going to the chair and takin April's hand. "Hey, April, its me. Can you open your eyes?"

April blinks her eyes open for a second and looks at Leslie. Her eyes seem almost cloudy. "Leslie?"

"Yes! April, it's okay. You've been admitted and I'm staying with you tonight. I'm sorry for leaving earlier, I came back as soon as I could."

"Don't leave." April whispers, squeezing Leslie's hand.

"I won't, shh." Leslie can feel tears spring to her eyes. "Shh."

"Andy?"

"At home, sleeping. I'm staying with you. He'll come back in the morning."

April breaths noisily, and then scrunches up her nose. "Tubes."

"They're giving you oxygen. To help you breathe. And antibiotics and fever reducers through your IV. You have pneumonia, April. The flu weakened your immune system." She decides to wait on the lecture brewing in her. "You're going to be fine."

"Want my mom." She sounds so small.

"I called her. It's okay."

"Don't go!" There was something panicked in her voice and she makes a weak, pathetic attempt to sit up.

"I won't. Not going anywhere. I'm so sorry for leaving earlier." Leslie grabs her hand tighter and gently pushes April back down. "Just relax, April. I'm here."

April goes back to sleep.

\---

It's nine-thirty at night when Ann clocks off, changing out of her dirty scrubs and going upstairs to April's room. She remembers the room number she was given to document April's transfer. It doesn't take her long to find her way there.

Leslie is, of course, in one of the visitor's chairs, slightly slumped forward and possibly dozing off.

Ann takes a moment to glance at April's stats on the screen. Her oxygen isn't too much better, and her pulse still seems very rapid and slightly uneven. She was still obviously sweating.

_This is bad. Get better, April._

"Hey Leslie. How's things here?"

"Ann!" Leslie springs up in the chair excitably, reaching her free hand out for a side hug. "I don't know, she was awake for a bit but now she's back asleep. Are you heading out?"

"Yeah, I just got off. I wanted to check on you. Both of you. Call me if you need anything, okay? I want to know how she's doing."

Leslie side-hugs her again, and Ann leaves.

\---

Ben Wyatt sits in the chair in his living room, aimlessly attempting to read a book. Sighing, he finally relents and does the thing he's spent all afternoon convincing himself not to do.

  
Leslie gave him her phone number when he arrived. He found that creepy, immediately getting someone's cell phone number, and so he told himself he wouldn't call.

He picks up his phone and carefully types in her number into the 'new message' screen.

_Hey Leslie, it's Ben. How's April?_

He pauses, tries not to, and continues.

_And how are you?_

 

He presses send and waits for the regret.

It doesn't come.


	13. Chapter 13

A nurse comes in around ten to check on April, and Leslie makes a point to introduce herself. The nurse's name is Laura, she's a Pawnee native, and from what little Leslie can tell by scrutinizing her every move, she's at least functionally similar to Ann. She also makes a point to show Leslie how to call for help, which is appreciated.Leslie enjoys knowing how to handle emergency situations.

Right around then her phone beeps as well. It's Ben, and he's asking how April is. And how  _she_ is.

Weird.

Leslie knows that she should answer this perfectly polite question but honestly she cannot find it in herself to summon any words and she puts her head down on April's mattress and goes to sleep.

\---

April wakes up at some unknown time in the middle of the night. Green light is splashed up on the ceiling, and she spends several minutes looking at it, wondering if it's one of Orin's lava lamps with the floating heads. Green is cool. Green is-

Everything is very cold. She notices that next. It's been cold, for a while now, but suddenly it's colder. And she feels nauseous. The world is spinning and her heart is playing too fast in her head, like someone is hitting her with a toaster.

_Andy I wanna get off the rollercoast-_

Where is Andy? Where is she?

And why is she so goddamn sweaty?

"Mom?"

Her voice hardly comes out. It's hard to breathe, why is so hard to breathe? Tears well up in April's eyes and for once she doesn't stuff them back down. 

"Mamá?"

Someone stirs next to her, she feels a pressure on her hand and she tries to sit up, but nothing really matters all of a sudden. Everything matters less than it's ever mattered, and she's April Ludgate and nothing matters to her, not ever, but stuff especially doesn't matter as her vision tunnels and does dim and floaty.

_Supposed to get coffee with Andy..._

"Mamá?"

\---

There's a voice.

Leslie sits bolt upright in the dark room, illuminated only by the lights of some machine in the corner and some light spilling in from the hallway. She blinks. Where is she?

_Did I fall asleep at Ann's house?_

She listens for whatever the noise was again. Someone is breathing really rapidly, and fragments start piecing back together.

"April?"

"Mamá?"

"April?" Leslie reaches out and turns the bedside lamp on.

April's sitting up in the bed, eyes wide. "Leslie?"

Now that she's more awake, Leslie can hear April's heart racing on the monitor. "April, what is it?"

April reaches out to her as though she wants a hug, and Leslie does the only thing that feels right and gathers April into a hug. "Shh. What's wrong?" April's skin feels surprisingly cold under Leslie's hand, she'd been expecting the fever warmth. "April, you need to lie back down, it'll be easier for you to breathe."

Once she's lying back down, Leslie touches April's forehead with her free hand. Sure enough, April's downright cold to the touch. "Your fever might have broken?"

"Dad, don't leave..."

"April? Hey, look at me!" April's pupils are huge, taking up the whole colored part of her eyes, and Leslie suddenly notices that she's paler, a thousand times more pale. "April, can you hear me? What's going on?" The machine is starting to make some scary sound beneath the noise of April's heartbeat, and Leslie hits the button to call the nurse. "April, what is it?"

"Leslie...the world won't stop." She sounds pissed, and it's almost enough to make Leslie smile. "I can't see..."

"What?"  _Where the hell is the nurse?_ "What do you mean, is it too dark?"

April squeezes her hand but doesn't reply. 

Laura the nurse comes rushing in, and immediately comes to April's side. "April, can you hear me? When did this start happening?"

"I don't know, I just woke up, she was sitting up and she seemed scared and she's cold, she's cold when you touch her."

"I think April might be about to go into shock." The friendliness in Laura's voice is gone, it's replaced with a steely edge. "I'm going to have to ask you to step outside for a couple minutes to call any of her family that you can. We may need to move her to the ICU."

"But shouldn't...I should stay, with her, right?"

"Leslie?!" April's grip on Leslie's hand is like a vice.

Laura looks between the two of them. "Okay, in the interest of keeping April calm, I'm actually going to ask you to stay. However, you do need to make that call, and I'm going to ask you to not make it in here." Laura glances at her meaningfully. "I need to get a doctor in here, and when I return you will have to leave briefly."

"I understand." Leslie grabs her phone through her coat to reassure herself, and then has to hold back her own tears as she wipes away April's. "April, it's okay. It's okay, April."

The doctor comes back in almost immediately, and that's when Leslie knows it's serious. "April, I'll be right outside the door. I'm going to call Andy, and your mom, okay?  _I am not leaving you."_

April doesn't respond and Leslie's hand feels empty as she rushes out into the hallway. Her hand finds Ann's number first. "Pick up pick up pick up."

"Leslie, what is it?" Ann sounds half asleep.

"It's April, Ann, she's going into shock and they might have to move her to the ICU, I need to call Ron and her mom but I don't know what to do!"

"Leslie, hang up and call her mom. I'll be there in fifteen." 

April's mom doesn't pick up, and Leslie leaves a fast-past, frantic message. She can hear the nurses and the doctor in April's room. She doesn't hear April. 

\---

Ron awakes to his phone ringing.

No one calls him at this times and he nearly rolls over and ignores it. But a sinking feeling forces him to sit up and reach for his phone.

"Hello?"

"Ron! It's Leslie!"

"Leslie, what in the-"

"April's going into shock, Ron, she might need to go to the ICU and they said I should call everyone. Ron, it's bad, it's really really bad, you need to get Andy and come here as soon as possible!"

Adrenaline courses through Ron for what must be the sixth or seventh time in the last 24 hours. He stumbles out of bed. "I'll be there as soon as possible, have you called Ann?"

"Yes, I don't know who else I should call--"

"Ben." He doesn't know why he suggests it, but he does. "Call Ben."

"O-okay."

"And then get back with April and  _do not leave her._ "

"Okay. Okay, see you soon."

Ron pulls his clothes back on and is in the car before he knows it, driving back to Andy's house, chanting under his breath. 

_"Please be okay, please be okay."_

Ron Swanson does not like to admit to caring for people, but he's not above this.

\- - -

"What?" Ben's eyes come open to the light and sound of his cellphone on his bedside table. "What?" 

"Ben?"

"Hello? Leslie?"

"Ben! I'm sorry, it's April, she's going into shock and they might have to put her in intensive care and Ron said I should call you, I don't know what to do! I'm sorry, I have to get off and get back to April but Ben, I'm so scared." Leslie is openly crying.

"Leslie, I'll be there as soon as I can. Is someone getting Andy?"

"Ron is, I gotta go-"

"Go." Ben's pants are already on, and he's already out the door. "Go."

\---

Ron is standing in Andy's hallway. 

Andy blinks at him, confused. The knocking had woken him up. He was not expecting Ron to be in his hallway. Maybe he should have put a shirt on.

"Andy, it's April."

_What?_

Her name, as usual, sends electricity through him.

"I don't know what happened, but Leslie called me. April is sick. Sicker. Really sick, we got to go."

_April..._

He feels like he just ate batteries as he grabs the nearest article of clothing and throws it over his shoulder. "Is she going to be okay?"

"I don't know, Andy, we have to go." 

He's vibrating, literally vibrating as they get into the car, all sleepiness smashed straight out of his brain.

"Ron, can you drive faster?"

"Yes."

Once upon a time when Andy was a small Andy, someone taught him that he could wish upon a star.

_April, please be okay. Please, April, please, April. I won't ask for anything ever again, not even a dog. Please, April, please._


	14. Chapter 14

It seems like there’s a thousand nurses in April’s room, talking in what sounds like another language. Leslie tries to breathe. For herself. For April, who’s wearing an oxygen mask. 

_God, April…_

Leslie thinks she might throw up or cry. Something. Instead she pushes a hole in the crowd of nurses and grabs April’s hand, holding it between hers. She takes a deep breath in, willing the oxygen to travel through her into April. She wants to say something but nothing comes. The desire to throw up grows, and she swallows back stomach acid and grips April’s hand.

“Hey April.” Leslie finds her voice and tries to keep it soothing. April grabs at her hand, squeezing it, and Leslie tries to hold on to that pressure and just breathe. “Hey.” She strokes April’s hair gently, hating the fact that April is only now letting someone care for her. None of this would have happened if she had just let them take care of her, if she had just told them she was sick. Leslie would have come. She would have been there. “I’m right here.” She notices that April’s shivering to the point where her teeth are chattering. Her hands are freezing. “Andy’s on his way, and Ron. Everyone’s coming to see you.”

April smiles weakly, which is not a typical response for her when she’s told people are bearing down on her. Leslie wonders for a second if she’s even making sense, if April even knows what she’s saying, and then shakes her head. Doesn’t matter. April’s smiling.

Someone comes in with bags of fluids and begins preparing new injection sites for more IVs. April notices what they’re doing and makes a small, heartbreaking sound and weakly tries to pull away, but doesn’t really have the energy to fight it. That makes it worse, somehow. Leslie needs to know why they’re putting her through this, again. “What are those?”

“We’re working on raising April’s blood pressure. It’s dropped very low, and is still going down. These fluids will help. Can I speak to you in the hallway?” Laura the nurse gives Leslie look, and Leslie lets go of April’s hand reluctantly. April tries to move into a sitting position to grab it back, but Laura pushes her back down. “I just need Leslie for one second, April. She’ll be right back.”

The hallway is cold and Leslie’s shivering too. Laura sighs and puts a hand on Leslie’s shoulder. “Leslie? We’re going to try to get April stabilized. If we can’t, we’re going to have to fly her out to a different hospital, if she crashes we do not have the facilities to take care of her here.”

It doesn’t sound like English. Why would they move her, what’s happening? “Crashes?” 

“April is going into shock. We’re not sure why, it could be dehydration, or she could be septic, meaning that the bacteria is spreading through her body. We’re doing a blood test to find out. Either way, when someone is in shock, their vital organs are failing. They’re not getting enough oxygen. That’s why she’s cold, her blood is pulling from her skin to try to support her organs. We’re trying to raise her blood pressure and get oxygen into her, but if this progresses she may start to crash out, we will need to move her to a hospital that can do more to keep her here. The survival rate for shock is not good, even in young people like April.”

_April’s vital organs are failing. She’s going to die._

Everything is spinning and Leslie leans over and is sick. Laura gently leads her from her mess.

“Is she—is April going to die?” Leslie’s blinking back tears, but they’re coming faster than she can deal with them. “April’s 20! You need to, she can’t, she can’t, you have to—“

“We’re trying. We’ll do everything we can. It seems like you woke up and noticed what was happening in the early stages.”

 It was just a few minutes ago, in the dark, Leslie hadn’t known and April had thought she was her mother. “She woke me up—she said she was cold.”

 “She is cold. And likely dizzy, maybe nauseous. The fact that she let you know is important, otherwise we would have had a delay. If we can get her oxygen up, get her fluids, treat the infection if she’s septic, then hopefully... If she stabilizes, we’ll keep her here. If not, we’ll fly her out, and they’ll take care of her.” A janitor is already cleaning up Leslie’s vomit. “In the meantime, just stay with her. Keep talking to her, try to keep her awake and calm.”

Leslie nods, blinks back tears, wipes her mouth with a tissue and nods again.

April’s room is still a beehive, but Leslie pushes her way back to her chair and resumes her place holding April’s cold hand, trying to warm it between hers. “Hey April. Can you look at me?”

April blinks and looks from the nurses to Leslie. “You left.”

“Just for a second. I wasn’t far.” The fear in April’s voice breaks her heart. “But I’m back. Shh.”

“What’re…they doing?” April’s lips are blue again, and it’s clearly hard for her to breathe. The oxygen mask over her face fogs as she coughs.

_She can’t breathe, God she can’t breathe. She’s dying. She’s dying._

“The nurses? Getting more fluids. So you’re not thirsty.” Leslie rubs her hand and looks away for a second, blinking back fresh tears. “You and I are going to hang out while they do that.”

“Why are you…” April coughs and flinches as they tape in an IV. “Why are you crying?”

 “It’s nothing, April. I’m just thinking about something.” _Her nails are blue. Mine are pink, and hers are blue, they shouldn’t be blue._ “ Hey, stay awake for me. How are you feeling?”

“Cold. Hurts. And I’m scared.” Tears spring into her eyes, now they’re both crying.

“I know. I know, I’m sorry.” Leslie notices that the crowd of nurses has dispersed slightly. She doesn’t know if that’s good or bad. Are they giving up? Are they calling a helicopter?

April’s crying, honestly crying in a way that Leslie has never seen before. It hurts her heart. It hurts her stomach. April starts to make a gasping noise, like she’s choking in her own lungs. 

Leslie needs to stop her, keep her calm. “April! Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay.” _What would Andy do?_

She knows she should ask, but she’s kicking her shoes off and climbing over the bars of April’s bed. She grabs April and pulls her to her as though proximity can save them. She can feel April’s ice hands grab onto her, Rock Stoneson still in one fist and now pressing into her shoulder, and she thinks she has a mouthful of April’s hair but none of that matters right now. She talks, not even really knowing what she’s saying, and listens to April’s breathing slowly calm. The nurses gently take back the IV arm to continue taping in the third needle, and Leslie eventually makes April lie back down, still-clinging to her jacket, and lies next to her like kids at a slumber party. 

_Should have a slumber party. When she’s better._

_If._ The thought comes unbidden, and she tries to force it back out of her head as she pulls April practically into her lap. But it’s there. April’s dying, and Leslie doesn’t know if she can save her. All she can do it hold on and dare them to try to kick her out.

 _I’m not leaving. I’ll be like Andy, I’m not leaving._ Leslie rests her chin on top of April’s head and tries to ignore how un-April this feels. If April wants to lie like this, then damn it, they’ll lie like this. Even if Leslie has to promise to chop off a pinkie if she tells anyone later.

Maybe it’s a minute, or maybe it’s a year, but eventually Laura is the last nurse in April’s room. “Just keep her awake and calm, as best you can, and call me if anything changes.”

Leslie tears her eyes from April, looking up hopefully. “Is she stable?”

“No, but hopefully she’s stabilizing. This is the tricky part, we have to wait and see if she can handle it. Any drop in blood pressure or oxygen and I think she’ll have to be put on a respirator. But she’s trying, Leslie. We’re all trying.” With that, Laura leaves.

 _April’s trying. April might need a respirator._ Leslie knows what that means and wishes she didn’t. She nods and swallows a fresh wave of bile and pulls April closer to her, trying to take all the minimal warmth she has in herself and pass through April’s back into her organs. April makes a sound and Leslie looks down at her. Her eyes are closed.

“April, you gotta keep your eyes open,” Leslie says sharply, shaking April. “Hey, April.”

“Why?” She sounds groggy, quieter. Maybe the crying was too much for her. 

 _If you don’t, you’ll crash. You’ll die. I’ll lose you. We’ll lose you.  And I’ll never, ever forgive myself for letting this happen to you._ “You just do. You have to keep your eyes open. ”

“Fine.” April grabs onto Leslie’s jacket tightly with her free arm. “Scared?”

“Of what?”

“No. You’re…” Leslie could go the rest of her life without hearing that wheezing sound again and it would still be too soon. “You’re scared.”

“A little. You’re sick and I’m worried about you. God, April, never do this to me again!”

“Not doing anything…”

 “You better not be.” It comes out aggressively. “I need you to be okay.”

There’s a sound in the hallway, and Leslie looks up to see Ann come around the corner. She’s in her pajamas and jacket, a mismatched set of shoes on her feet, and her hair is full of what looks like snow.  Ann stops short in the doorway, eyes immediately on the screen with the vitals.

“Ann?"

“Leslie, oh my God…” Ann looks between the screen and April. “Are they Medivacing her?”

It must be bad. Leslie’s heart sinks straight into the hospital bed, but April’s trying, they’re all trying, Laura said so. “They’re trying to stabilize her here. Ann, I don’t know what’s going on.”

“I’m going to talk to her nurse. It’s snowing, by the way, and I just got a call from Ron saying they spun out. They’re not hurt, but the car is having issues and so Ben is getting them.”

Leslie imagines a car full of stoic Ron and panicking Andy pirouetting gently on the ice and cringes with every internal organ. “Oh God, Andy must be losing it.”

“Yeah, honestly, happy I’m not in that car.” Ann looks at April “I’m talking to her nurse.”

“Man Perkins,” April whispers from the bed. Her voice sounds weaker, and Leslie wonders if that’s a sign. April sounds weaker and Ann looked so scared and the numbers on the machine don’t look like they’re going up from where she’s sitting. But April’s trying to make a joke, and that means everything right now. For a second, they’re all smiling.

“Man Perkins, that’s me! Be right back, April.” Ann replies cheerfully, leaving the room.

“Hey April?”

April doesn’t respond, but Leslie looks down at her and sees that her eyes are open and she’s listening. Her breathing sounds worse, and Leslie pulls her further up into a sitting position. 

“April, what’s something that you want to do when you get better?”

April summons everything in her to sound like herself for a second. “Go home.”

Leslie rolls her eyes, just a little bit, in response. “Well, yeah, I figured. I mean, what’s something fun you want to do. Whatever you want, we’ll do it.” _I’ll even go over to Orin’s house if that’s what matters to you. Anything. You just need to stay alive._

“Want to go to breakfast with you,” April whispers, gasping between every other word. It seems hard for her to get the words out. “Waffles. We’ve never-“ a coughing fit overtakes her, and Leslie pats her on the back, hushing her as the oxygen stats dip momentarily.

She’s surprised by the sheer volume of tears in her eyes. April likes her, loves her even. April’s dying. It’s too much. “I’ve got you. Okay, yeah, when you’re better we’ll get you waffles! We’ll get all the waffles you can eat. You and I will be the most sugar-high people in Pawnee.”

April smiles behind the oxygen mask. “Just us?”

“Just us.” She pulls April closer to her, scared to let go. “I promise. But you have to promise to never get sick like this again. This is so not cool.”

April nods weakly, and Leslie listens for a few minutes to all the machines that are trying to keep April alive. The numbers aren’t going up the way they should be, and April still feels cold. She’s noticed the nurses that keep standing in the doorway and glancing at the numbers. Ann hasn’t come back, they must have a lot to talk about. None of this is good.

“April?”

April doesn’t respond.

“April, don’t do this to me-“ April’s eyes are closed. “April, don’t you do this to me!”

Her eyes come open, and she glances up at Leslie, looking scared. “Mom?”

“No-“ Despite what she’s saying, she notices she’s holding April more and more like a baby.

“I’m scared.” For someone who’s practically dying and has an arm completely mummified in tape and full of needles, April’s grip is incredibly strong. “Don’t go.”

“Not going. I’m not. I’m right here.” Leslie’s not sure how they could be any closer. April’s head is on her shoulder and Leslie’s got her arms around her in a hug. She’d have to dislocate a shoulder if she wanted to get free of this tangle. And she doesn’t want to. “Not going.”

They’re quiet for a little bit, but April doesn’t sleep. Leslie watches April’s eyes and wills them to stay open. Wills her lungs to keep breathing, her heart to keep pumping. Wills her to just stay alive and stay with them. Laura’s words go around in her head. _She’s trying._ Occasionally she glances at the vitals. They’re the same. _She’s trying._

“How is she?" 

Leslie glances up. Ann’s hair is snow-free and slightly damp, and Leslie doesn’t know when she returned. “I think she’s tired. And she’s really not breathing well.”

Ann glances up at the vitals screen. “Yeah, she’s not improved too much, but she’s not worse. But Leslie, it’s really not good.” Ann sits down in the chair and nervously reaches out to check April’s temperature. Miraculously, April lets her. “Hey April, how are you doing?”

“Cold.” Her voice is smaller and smaller. She’s shrinking right in front of them.

“Yeah, you feel kind of cold. I talked to Ron, he and Andy and Ben are coming soon, okay?”

April blinks, and draws in a terrible choking breath. “I want Andy to…want him to come.”

As though summoned, there’s a thunk out in the hall, and Leslie can hear loud, familiar voices.

“Son, you need to slow down-“ “Andy, no, the nurse said this way-“

Andy comes flying into the room, and Ann immediately stands and moves out of his way. Leslie can tell just by looking at him that he’s been crying. He freezes at the sight of them. “April-?”

Noticing a commotion, Laura the nurse comes back in. “Oh, well, you must be the rest of April’s…group. I’m going to ask those of you who just arrived to step out into the hallway with me for a second. I’m going to explain what’s happening here.”

Despite his reluctance, Ben tows Andy backwards out of the room, and if Leslie listens she can hear Laura explaining all the things that she doesn’t know how to say.

“April started going into shock, and we’re not sure why, but we’re figuring out. She woke up and alerted Leslie, who alerted us, and we were able to start treatment to try to stabilize her. Her vitals have stopped crashing for the time being, but they’re not improving. There’s a chance we will have to Medivac her to a hospital that can take care of her in this condition.”

“What does shock mean? I mean, medically. What does that mean for her medically? Is it bad” Ben asks.

“It means not enough oxygen is getting to her organs. They were trying to fail.”

Leslie’s not sure she’s ever heard Ben’s voice shake. But it’s shaking now. “But that’s dangerous, I mean, that’s super super not good.  She could-”

“Yes. In many cases shock is fatal, which is why it’s so important that we found out early. April’s getting fluids, she’s getting oxygen, she’s getting strong antibiotics, and she’s being kept warm and awake by her friends. But what is incredibly important is that April stays calm. We need to limit the number of visitors for her sake, and if you’re unable to be calm and you stress her, we will ask you to leave. Leslie’s been sitting with her and that seems to be working, and two people other than Leslie can be in April’s room. So please alternate who’s sitting with her." 

“She’s going to stabilize, right? She going to be alright?” Ron asks gruffly.

“We hope so. If we can’t take care of her here, we’re going to move her. But April’s been a trooper thus far, while we want her blood pressure to go up, it stopped falling. She’s trying really hard to stay with us, we just need to keep her here.”

Andy’s back in the room, and he comes to the chair Ann vacated and sits down next to the bed. Leslie can see him shaking as he reaches for April’s arm. “April? April?”

April blinks and smiles past the oxygen mask. She finds her incredibly weak voice. “Hey Andy.”

“Hey April.” He’s trying so hard to keep his voice steady. “Hey. The doctor says you’re startled, but you’re super strong. And they’re going to fix you.” Tears begin rolling down his face, and he wipes them with his free hand. “They’re going to fix you, and then…then we can get coffee.”

Ann is standing next to the vitals monitor, biting her lip, and Leslie wants to ask what’s happening. Instead she wraps an arm around April’s frighteningly thin waist and helps to pull her upright a little more. She breathes better when she’s upright so long as she has something to lean against. “April and I are going to get waffles when she’s better.”

“Oh, that sounds awesome. Hey April, do you still have Rock Stoneson?”

April nods against Leslie’s shoulder.

“Good, I’m super glad. Keep hanging on to him, okay? He’s going to help make you better.”

Leslie can feel April shift a little to get a better hold of her rock, but even just moving a little bit seems to cause her breathing to worsen. Leslie looks up at Ann, who’s still keeping her eyes fixed on the monitor. Ann notices her staring and meets Leslie’s eyes. “I’m going to let Ron or Ben come in, okay April? I’ll be back later. Maybe I’ll talk to your nurse some more.” She leans in close to Leslie, until she’s whispering right in her ear. “I’m getting a doctor. She’s fading.”

Leslie’s eyes are full of tears again, but she blinks them back as Ron comes in.

She’s used to seeing Ron look like an unmovable mountain, but right now he hardly looks like Ron at all. He stands next to Andy, who’s currently putting on some kind of skit starring Rock Stoneson and his own thumb. It doesn’t make much sense to Leslie, but April’s eyes are open and she looks like she’s amused, or would be if she had the energy. Ron glances down at his rock look-alike and looks back to April. For a split second, his eyes meet Leslie’s, and she can see in that moment how scared he is.

Then he puts an incredibly gentle hand on April’s shoulder. “Hey, kid. How we doing?”

April looks confused for a split second, and then smiles, vaguely. “Ron.”

His mustache moves up in a smile. “Right you are, nice job. Are they treating you good?”

“More,” she makes that sound again. “More needles." 

“They put in another IV,” Leslie clarifies, giving April time to breathe. She needs it, Leslie can feel her grip tighten in discomfort. “Because they’re hooking her up tons of fluids, right, April?” 

“Speaking of fluids, do you need anything, Leslie? Water, coffee, we could get you-“

“Ben brought you coffee! He said we should give it to you as soon as possible! He said it would help! I’ll go get it, be right back, April.” Andy rushes off, clearly desperate to be useful. 

They watch him go, and Ron looks back down at Leslie. “Leslie, is she going to die?” 

“I don’t know. I don’t know, Ron, how did we let this happen to her? She’s dying, we can’t let her!” April’s eyes are closed. “April, open your eyes! April!”

Ron grabs April’s foot and gives it a hard shake, and April frowns at him. “Rude.” Her eyes are glassy, but Leslie doesn’t think she’s ever seen someone with more beautiful eyes then in this moment. April’s eyes, open and conscious, are the best eyes in the world.

Ron smiles but doesn’t let go of her foot. “Sorry kid, but it’s not bedtime for you.”

April groans, and Leslie catches herself smiling. She looks up as Ben walks into the room, holding one of his travel mugs full of coffee. “Where’s Andy?”

“He got excited about helping and ran face-first into a wall, they’re getting him ice and getting a little blood cleaned so he doesn’t scare anyone. Someone should go to him, though, he wants back in here and I’m worried he’s going to get aggressive.”

Ron gets to his feet, sighing. ‘I’ll go. Keep me posted on what’s happening here, though.”

“I brought you coffee.” Ben holds it out to her. “I made it before I went to bed, for this morning. But I guess you need it earlier. It should still be warm.” He looks around awkwardly. “You have your hands full, so um, maybe I’ll put it here on the nightstand.”

“That would be great, thanks, Ben.” She smiles at him and shifts April back into an upright position. “Hey, April, Ben’s here." 

Ben leans down a little, trying to get face-level. Now that he’s up close, Leslie can see the dark circles under his eyes. He looks scared out of his mind. “Hey April, how are you feeling?”

“Natalie?”

“Um, most definitely not,” replies Ben, trying to sound upbeat. “Just Ben, delivering Leslie some coffee. I probably should have brought you some, huh?” 

April sticks out her tongue and they all laugh. It seems to take a lot out of her though, and she goes back to lying quietly, and Ben sits in one of the chairs, moving it to Leslie’s side of the bed.

“How are you doing?”

“Oh, God, Ben,” tears are back in her eyes, when is this going to stop? “I’m so scared, I don’t know what to do, how did she get this sick?” She stops herself, tries to calm. “I mean, what am I supposed to do?”

“I think you’re doing great.” He awkwardly stands in a weird bent posture and gives Leslie half of the world’s most awkward hug.

It’s a lot nicer than she would have expected.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that was okay, I've never written fanfiction stuff before.
> 
> Let me know what you think?


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